Func_Msgboard: FPS Shellshock

Posted by Blitz on 2004/10/09 22:32:00

First person shooters are designed to be immersive, and ultimately the goal of a good one is to make you forget that you're playing in a virtual world (among other things).

That being said, how many of you find yourselves mentally and physically affected after extended gaming sessions of violent shooters?

I hadn't really thought about it too much until I was out to dinner tonight and my nerves felt really shot. I've been playing alot of Farcry lately, and it's a pretty intense game. There's alot of trying to not be seen and being in the middle of fierce firefights and explosions. But this really applies to any FPS because I think they all create the same tension. No matter what game it is, I find myself unable to fall asleep right after I finish playing a long session. My adrenaline is just too active to sleep.

So today as soon as I woke up I had coffee and breakfast and went to play Far Cry. I had a bit to drink last night, so I was feeling especially worn down, but the intensity of the game just added to that feeling. By the time it was 7 o'clock, my family was going out to dinner to celebrate my mom's birthday, I felt like a wreck and unable to perform the most basic tasks.

This doesn't just happen when I was drinking the previous night, or operating on a lack of sleep -- but almost any time I'm playing a game for a long time and I suddenly have to go do something in "the real world."

Discuss.

Nope

#1 posted by . on 2004/10/10 00:56:45

I Remember

#2 posted by VoreLord on 2004/10/10 01:35:33

Way back playing Doom/DoomII, for anywhere from 16 to 20hours straight with a freind, even when I did go to sleep, I was still playing the game in my mind while I slept. It actually felt really good, and then you get up and start playing again for real.

DooM3, I played through 3 times so far, and I usually play in large blocks, and I can tell you there was a time when I began looking at real life shadows in a very different way, actually (or maybe not) seeing things. I play in a practically pitch black room, no light enters here without my say so, sound up loud enough that the outside world never encroaches while I play.

Far Cry, I'll have to try that.

#3 posted by Zwiffle on 2004/10/10 01:45:01

If you get exhausted from playing a video game, you need to exercise more. Now get out and go play some ping-pong.

Oddly Enough

#4 posted by pjw on 2004/10/10 02:01:44

I get in a weird mental state more often from editing than from playing (although the latter happens too, upon occasion).

I'll get "in the zone" while working on a map and suddenly snap back to reality (after 2 or 3 or 6 hours) and realize that my ass is killing me and that I have a stiff neck from staring at the monitor, and I'll feel sorta stoned and really really dazed for a few minutes that, whoa, there's a world around me, and people, and stuff out there!

At this point I dream about working in radiant/D3 edit/Q4 edit at least one in every three nights or so. It's kind of annoying sometimes, but sometimes I'll wake up with a cool idea or solution in my head too. :)

Waaayy Back When

#5 posted by HeadThump on 2004/10/10 04:01:37

I played Dungeon Master one night for several hours, I had a weird experience when I got up in the middle of the night to pee.

For those of you who are not familiar with the game, it represents a 3d world in 90 degree increments. When I got up, the colors around me simplified and I could only see aound me in simplified increments, and when I walked forward the pacing of the room and hallway ahead of me had the same feel as the game.

This effect only went away after several minutes and after I drunk some milk (my thinking was, hey if it works for psilocybin, video games ought to be a sinch).

You Mean

#6 posted by nb on 2004/10/10 05:17:00

He didn't respawn when I pushed him under that bus? Shit...

#7 posted by pope on 2004/10/10 05:45:15

it makes my ass hurt
kinda sore on my WASD fingers from holding down buttons all the time, I should camp more
and I do feel stoned, that might be the pot.

btw I thought this thread was going to be about Shellshock Nam 67' or whatever thats called.

Yes.

#8 posted by Shambler on 2004/10/10 05:55:14

Oh God

#9 posted by DaZ on 2004/10/10 11:29:36

I hope the daily mail doesn't see this thread.

Daz

#10 posted by Blitz on 2004/10/10 19:04:37

#11 posted by pjw on 2004/10/10 19:16:39

Cue this image:

http://www.planetquake.com/pjw/grafix/lag.jpg

Blitz

#12 posted by DaZ on 2004/10/10 20:05:02

I'm not trying to say that it causes kids to kill or anything like that, I'm just saying that the combination of adrenaline and the fear of dying in the virtual world can cause an amount of stress afterwards.

I know I know, but if you've ever read the daily mail. you just know they could bend it to that angle :D

Pjw

#13 posted by nitin on 2004/10/10 20:41:09

LOL

I'm Not Sure The FPS Thing Is Relavent

#14 posted by mwh on 2004/10/11 08:46:34

Any period of intense concentration will have aftereffects. All the more if there's adrenaline involved.

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